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PORTLAND, Ore. — Sending out a senior class that has helped turn a four-win team into a 20-win outfit in four short years made for a sweet Senior Day Saturday. The fact that the Vikings also clinched a first-round bye at the Big Sky tournament, and tied the program's Big Sky era record with their 14th win at home made it all the sweeter.
 
The bye will come most welcomed for the Portland State women's basketball team that played like a postseason team while gifting seniors Ashley Bolston, Corey James, Pia Jurhar, Sidney Rielly and Courtney West a win in their final regular-season home game as Vikings. The Vikings handled a streaking Eastern Washington with apparent ease Saturday, beating the Eagles 76-57 in front of 529 fans. 
 
"You look at the quarters and we won every quarter. That's how you want to play, especially in our last home game with these seniors" head coach Lynn Kennedy said afterwards. "Our motivation today was for our seniors. We had a little bit of a slow start due to the emotions, but we weathered that storm and took over. I loved our intensity and our passion on defense, especially on the glass."
 
"We have to continue to get better. We have to treat these final few games as playoff games. It's March, so why not? That's our message to the players, 'let's get after it.'" 
 
The Eagles (10-17, 9-9 Big Sky) had come in with wins in five of their last six games, with the one loss during that stretch coming on a last second shot against first-place Idaho. The Vikings (21-6, 13-5 Big Sky) snapped that run with a dominant showing Saturday, however, as their 19-point win over the Eagles marked Eastern Washington's worst loss in Big Sky play this season.
 
Additionally, the Eagles came into Saturday's game having scored 70 or more points in five straight games, and had shot 45 percent or better in four of their last five games. The Vikings held the Eagles well short of both benchmarks, however, as the Eagles shot only .311 (19-of-61) from the floor for their second-worst field goal percentage in a Big Sky game this season.
 
"They [Eastern Washington] really struggled getting off good three-point shots against us, and they've been hitting those the last three weeks," Kennedy said. "We locked down defensively. Our length proved to be a difference tonight, and we weren't giving them second-chance points. In the first quarter, we gave them eight, six off of second-chance three-pointers. The final three quarters, we held them to two second-chance points."
 
Saturday's win assured the Vikings of finishing in the top five of the Big Sky standings, giving them a bye at the Big Sky tournament, March 11-15, in Boise, Idaho. The first-round byes are more coveted at this year's conference tournament, as the first three rounds will be played over three consecutive days as opposed to the five-day schedule for the same rounds in previous years.
 
The Vikings have played well at the Big Sky tournament the past two seasons, making the semifinals each time. The Vikings had to win two games in order to get to the semifinals both years, however, whereas two wins at this year's tournament will now put the Vikings in the final.
 
The Vikings set themselves up for that with their win Saturday, and it was fitting that several of the team's seniors helped lead the way.
 
Rielly led all players with 20 points in the game while adding four assists and four rebounds. Rielly's 20 points moved her up to fifth on the all-time scoring list at Portland State, and she'll need only six more points in the Vikings' next game in order to pass Kim Manifesto (1992-96) for fourth.
 
West also went into double figures with a typical Courtney West stat line of 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go with seven rebounds and five blocks. West's five blocks upped her career total to 248, 130 more than the player who held the record before West arrived on campus. West also trails Montana's Carly Selvig (2011-14) for third all time within the Big Sky Conference by only 10 blocks.
 
Bolston, meanwhile, looked to set up others ahead of herself Saturday, and her stats reflected that as she posted a game-high nine assists to go with six points, six rebounds and two steals.
 
Jurhar also started the game Saturday, and finished with four rebounds and a block.
 
The Vikings had a hard time asserting themselves early Saturday, as they missed their first three shots from the floor and finished the first quarter with only 10 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the field. Fortunately, the Eagles also struggled out of the gate, as they scored only nine points in the first quarter, and were even worse from floor while hitting 4-of-16 from the field.
 
Things picked up for both teams in the second quarter, especially from the three-point line. The Eagles made three shots from deep in the second quarter, while the Vikings went 4-of-8 after missing all five of their attempts in the first quarter.
 
Sophomore Kylie Jimenez got a lucky few bounces off the rim on a three-pointer that kicked off a 13-3 run to end the second quarter. The ball bounced high off the back rim on Jimenez's shot, came down and hit the rim a couple more times before settling into the net. Freshman Desirae Hansen followed the next time down the court with a three-pointer from close to the same spot, giving the Vikings a 29-23 lead with 2:29 remaining before half.
 
Jimenez and Hansen combined for a back-breaking play right at the end of the half that put the Vikings up 36-26 going into the break. Rielly hit two free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining, and the ensuing in-bounds from the Eagles went past their player's hands and to Jimenez. The Eagles blocked Jimenez from driving, but she turned and kicked to trailing Hansen, who hit a rushed three-pointer from the top of the arc as time expired.
 
The Vikings opened the third quarter with back-to-back baskets from West and Rielly, extending their run from the first half to 17-3. The Vikings led by double digits throughout the second half, and took their first 18-point lead when Bolston hit a three-pointer with 1:43 remaining in the third quarter.
 
Bolston opened the fourth quarter with a steal and dish to Hansen, who made a fast-break layup to make it an 18-point game again at 62-44 with 9:27 remaining. The Eagles wouldn't get closer than 15 points the rest of the way.
 
Besides the seniors, Jimenez had a great all-around game as he finished with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting while adding five assists, five steals and a block. Hansen also scored in double figures for the second straight game with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting to go with five rebounds and three steals.
 
Junior Jordan Stotler, meanwhile, recorded her second-career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, four of which came on the offensive end.
 
All told, five Vikings finished with at least 10 points against the Eagles – the first time since the Vikings' first game against the Eagles that the team has had that many players in double figures.
 
The Vikings will now look to keep their momentum going into the final weekend of the regular season, when they travel to Montana and Montana State next weekend. The Vikings will open the weekend Thursday against Montana, and then close the regular season against Montana State Saturday. Tipoff against the Grizzlies Thursday is scheduled for 7 p.m. (MT).
 
Game Notes: The Vikings improved to 31-37 all time against the Eagles, and took the lead in the Big Sky series between the two teams at 23-22…The Vikings won their 21st game of the season Saturday, the third-most wins in a season during the program's Big Sky era behind 22 wins in 2007-08, and 23 wins in 2008-09…The Vikings also recorded their 13th Big Sky win of the season, one off the program record of 14 that the 2008-09 Vikings set…Rielly moved into a tie for sixth all time with her 70th-career 10-point game, and took over fourth place all time on her own with her 26th-career 20-point game…Rielly also moved out of a tie with Emily Eason for fifth all time in career three-pointers made with her 138th during the game.